Germany vs Colombia review: Colombia has added more pressure on Hansi Flick
Germany experienced a 2-0 defeat at home against Colombia in a friendly match on Tuesday, which adds to their recent string of disappointments less than a year before they host Euro 2024.
Luis Diaz scored a header in the 54th minute, followed by Juan Cuadrado’s penalty in the 82nd minute, securing the visitors’ first-ever win against the Germans. The German team was met with boos from the crowd at the end of the match.
Germany, who have less than a year to assemble a team experienced in battle for the continental competition, required two late goals to secure a 3-3 draw against Ukraine last week, followed by a 1-0 defeat to Poland on Friday.
The team, who have won the World Cup four times, have only won one out of their last five matches since their unexpected elimination in the group stage of the World Cup in December. Additionally, they have only emerged victorious in three out of their last 11 matches.
“Obviously I am very disappointed that we could not apply what we had set out to do,” said Germany coach Hansi Flick.
“There are things that we wanted to try but they backfired.”
“What can I say? The arguments are not on our side at the moment. We have to analyse it, draw our lessons,” he said after three games without a win.”
“This is a cycle that we need to break through. In September we have to bring a different performance. We will see a different team and then the results will start coming,” he said. “We are convinced we have a good team and good players.”
The Colombian team displayed a greater hunger for goals, putting pressure on the German goalkeeper, Marc Andre ter Stegen, who had to make several impressive saves in the first half.
On the defensive end, Germany’s 21-year-old player, Malick Thiaw, stood out. Despite having over 65% possession, the hosts failed to take a single shot on goal throughout the entire first half. They often faced difficulties in moving the ball out of their own half.
Colombia gained an advantage when Emre Can made a mistake and Cuadrado delivered a cross for Diaz to score with a header. Although the home team tried to increase their pace, they were still susceptible to counterattacks.
Bringing in Niclas Fullkrug did not significantly enhance their offensive performance, and a handball by Joshua Kimmich provided Colombia with an opportunity to extend their lead, which Cuadrado capitalized on from the penalty spot.
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